BERKELEY – After a start delayed by wet courts, the Cal Winter Invitational got all of its matches in on the first day of the three-day affair on Friday, as the host Golden Bears won 20 matches. The day featured the Bears' return to action after the winter break and the collegiate debut of Cal freshman Maria Smith.
Early morning rains pushed the start of the matches to roughly 11:20 a.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex and the Channing Tennis Courts. Cal – now with a 10-player roster – went 16-4 in singles and 4-0 in doubles on Friday.
“I was pleased,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “We had a slow start due to some weather issues, but once we were able to get out onto the courts, we were prepared and ready to go. It's good to get out on the courts and get some of the kinks out after not having competition for a little while. I thought we started off well in the doubles and were able to maintain that momentum through two rounds of singles. We were happy to get a good amount of tennis in today.”
Smith and senior Lynn Chi knocked off Cal Poly's Molly Reed and Ilana Oleynik, 6-2, in the first set of matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Earlier, the 43rd-ranked pair of senior Klara Fabikova and freshman Olivia Hauger beat the Mustangs' Bryn and Abigail Bacharach, 6-0, and the third-ranked duo of juniors Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr defeated Cal Poly's Dane Joubert and Emily Gibbens, 6-1.
Chi – the 2014 NCAA singles runner-up – looked strong in her fifth and sixth singles matches of the season, beating Fresno State's Galina Bykova, 6-3, 6-1, and then defeating Kareena Manji, 6-0, 6-4.
Manasse, ranked fifth, won twice in singles, topping Fresno State's Mayar Sherif Ahmed, 6-2, 6-3, as well as Jana McCord of Saint Mary's, 6-4, 6-0. The 10th-ranked Fabikova also won twice in singles, beating Fresno State's Sophie Watts, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, and – in the second to last match of the day at Hellman – besting the Gaels' 103rd-ranked Jamie Pawid, 6-7, 6-0, 6-2. Ranked 81st, Hauger added a win over the Bulldogs' Emma Wilson, 6-4, 6-0, and a victory over the Gaels' Vanessa Nommensen, 6-0, 6-1, to Cal's tally for the day.
The day ended with a match under the lights at Hellman, as Cal junior Stephane Lin fell to FSU's Wilson, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Smith, who joined the Bears just this week after graduating early from Texas Connections Academy, also won twice in singles, defeating Fresno State's Olivia Noble, 6-3, 6-4, and the Gaels' Parminder Kaur, 7-6(4), 6-0.
“It was really a spring season debut for (sophomore) Audrey (Mayer), Olivia and Maria,” Augustus said. “It's an adjustment period still whether you've been here for a few days or, like with the other two, you've been here for a semester. They're learning a lot and picking up on all the things they need to pick up on. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can contribute as we go along this season.”
The annual Cal Winter Invitational includes singles and doubles round-robin matches, with players from Cal, Saint Mary's, Fresno State and Cal Poly. Please visit the tournament's scores page here for complete results.
The Cal Winter Invitational continues on Saturday, with matches starting at 10 a.m, weather permitting.
